Social

It is no secret that the single biggest aspect missing from our lives here is friends. While we have made some really good friends here on Rum and obviously have plenty in common with them on a day to day basis by virtue of sharing our lives we all four miss the wider social circle we were used to back on the mainland. We are all pretty outgoing, gregarious people and have always spent much of our time in the company of others, actively seeking out social opportunities with like minded folk. Ady and I have remained in touch with friends from school and work over the years and both have friendships which have endured from our teenage years. Through our lives we have added more friends to our circle and being in the company of people who know us well, who share our passions and interests and understand us is something we both miss. For Davies and Scarlett there are simply no other teenagers around so their socialising with same age kids is almost entirely done online.

One of the greatest joys of the spring for us is not just the improvement in weather and start to the tourist season for more customers for our shed, it is also the opportunity for more visitors to come to the island. New people to talk to, new ideas and conversations, a world outside of Rum opens back up again! So far we have already had family visiting and tomorrow’s ferry will bring friends, another friend is due later this month and we have several more visitors booked in over the summer. People who knew us before we were crofters, islanders, caravan-dwellers.

Davies and Scarlett have been spending time hanging out with some visiting teens this last week which they have enjoyed a lot and we are hoping to see plenty of their closest mainland dwelling friends over the summer as they may well come over for weekend or even day trip visits.

Rather coincidentally over the last 10 days I have heard from four separate old friends online, some we had been out of touch with for over 20 years. Summing up our lives here now in just a quick paragraph reminds me that real friendships endure way past the details, whereas other more fleeting friendships are only about the details.